Manchester City Football Club today confirmed that its Chief Operating Officer, Paul Aldridge has decided to leave the Club in October.

Garry Cook offered Paul his very best wishes and commented "Although I am disappointed, I can confirm that Paul has decided to leave the Club at the end of the summer.

Well, if there's anything to be said about our transfer business this summer it's been efficient. Certainly when it comes to selling a player to Man City.

No sooner has their been confirmation of interest from the nouveau riche Mancarabs then the deal is practically done. So it was yesterday when Kolo Toure flew back from the Arsenal training camp, underwent a medical, signed a four year deal worth £100,000+ a week and the next moment it's all official - on both clubs websites (City this time actually waited for the deal to be done between the clubs before announcing it).

I have been away a few days but I am back now and I am a MARRIED MAN!!! The beautiful, stunning woman in the wedding dress is my lovely wife, Emily MONTZ!!

The wedding was amazing and my wife and I are so appreciative of all our family and friends who were there to share in our moment.

Tidbits that you can hear in the posted videos (more to come tomorrow since they are shutting down the stadium):
-There is a locker room issue with Kljestan at the moment
-Thornton is lost weight
-Preki spoke with Carver and offered his best wishes upon hearing of the resignation

In the first week of May, i was led to believe that's PP's days as Charlton manager were immenently to end. In preparation, the article below was drafted, and waited patiently for the SEND button. However, the order never came and PP very much remains at the helm. With the players returning for training tomorrow, it looks like the status quo will remain into the new season.

A quick roundup of the news in bullet form. I'll be doing this a bit, school is killing me at the moment.
1. We beat Santo Andre 1x0 with the goal from Germano in fairly drab game. It seems that against weaker teams the guys take it easy. Missing Ganso is a going to be a huge problem. I'm still wondering how he got called up but Dentinho is still with Corinthians.

Whatever honeymoon the US Men's National Team was enjoying after clinching it's sixth-straight World Cup Finals appearance has ended abruptly.
Last night at 3:15am, forward Charlie Davies was in a car that crashed on the George Washington Parkway in DC. A 22-year old woman in the car was killed in the accident.

And now, a moment of self-regarding nonsense on our part, if you don't mind.
What you are reading now may seem fairly ordinary by our standards (and indeed it is), but this is in fact a very special post. Put simply, this is Some People Are On The Pitch's 1,000th post.
We appreciate the sentiment and sense of achievement might be lost on most of you but when this humble little football blogsite started out in 2006, it was difficult to believe that one day we might end up with 1,000 articles to our name.

19-year-old Danish professional tennis player Caroline Wozniacki is a big Fernando Torres fan and as she announced on Twitter, her favorite player was kind enough to send her an autographed shirt (with the thoughtfully creative words "To Caroline, best wishes"). And, yeah...that's about all there is to this story.

PERTH Glory have confirmed the signing of Socceroos midfielder Mile Sterjovsiki on a three-year deal rumoured to be worth $2 million.
The deal will bolster Perth's attack (click here for an updated Glory squad list) and Glory coach Dave Mitchell said he was a terrific player .
"He is also a wonderful character and true professional who'll significantly add to our squad and the A-League in general," he said.

Swiss holding midfielder Gelson Fernandes has left Manchester City for Saint Etienne for an undisclosed fee after slipping down the Eastlands' pecking order due to the arrivals of Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong.
With the World Cup approaching, Fernandes will have been eager to drive for a regular starting position for Switzerland by impressing at club level and the prospects of achieving this at the City of Manchester Stadium were diminishing ever since Mark Hughes replaced Sven Goran Eriksson as manager.

Only a couple of days after I posted this, the official site confirmed the departure of Gelson Fernandes to St. Ettiene today:

Manchester City can confirm that Gelson Fernandes has joined French side St Etienne for an undisclosed fee.

The Swiss midfielder moved to City from FC Sion in July 2007, and made his debut in the Carling Cup win over Bristol City a month later.

Everyone knows by now that TFC have a more challenging road ahead of them if they want to see their fans rip up Crew Stadium in the Champions league. However, it appears that on that same night BA Duane's bracelets was yapped:

This is going to be short as I found myself in the wrong place Wednesday night and now have a broken nose and mild concussion as a result.

First off, congrats to Sounders FC forward Fredy Montero on being named MLS Newcomer of the Year. I'm note sure he wasn't the second-best newcomer on his own team, but it's a nice honor for the kid (who has definitely had an up-and-down year).
Also, Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton pulled in his second award in being named MLS Comeback Player of the Year.

All the best, Deano West Ham striker Dean Ashton has announced his retirement from football at the age of 26. OTP sends its best wishes to Dean - a very good striker who is popular with neutrals and opposition fans simply because he always comes across as a genuine nice guy. This video shows Dean battling his [.

Merry Christmas! I hope all of you who are celebrating today enjoy the holiday and a little bit of time off.
I'll be back in the full swing of things next week (possibly even this weekend). Until then, my best wishes to you and yours over the remainder of the holidays and into the new year.